Thread by @alexthechick

I am seeing some parallel positions going around right now and there is a through line to both of them that will insure that what people are seeking will never happen and I'm going to tell you all about it because why not: gather caffeine conveyance of choice and let's get it.

Position one: we who got things mildly incorrect while attempting to save the world from dying in the COVID plague deserve to be forgiven for any slightly less than thoroughly complimentary statements made during our noble attempts (I wish that was more mocking than it is).

Position II: those in positions of authority must be held accountable for what they did during COVID. And the Russian collusion fakery. And for the failure for there to be a red wave in the 2022 midterms. And for Afghanistan. And for the Patriot Act. (Add your topic here)

What possible through line is there between those positions? Both positions require that there be accountability for actions. Both those positions thus require, of necessity, that there be some agreement as for what actions people are to be held accountable. That won't happen.

The COVIDians appear to want forgiveness for saying Mean Things without any specific articulation as to what Mean Things were said. As for Position II, good luck getting any of the people from whom I want accountability to even agree something was done wrong in the first place.

Both apologies and accountability require that the person involved state directly what they did wrong. One of the steps of an actual apology is stating what harm you did. The COVIDians refuse to do that. Oh we were caught up and perhaps went a bit overboard, you know how it is.

No, you said that people who did not agree with whatever position of the day was were stupid racists who wanted grandparents to die and who did not deserve medical care and who should be left to die at the ER and who deserved to be fired. I wish I was exaggerating about that.

Unless and until there is explicit acknowledgement of what statements were made in the past, how and why those statements were wrong, and some kind of humility as to how forgiveness for those is an act of grace that is not owed, there is no actual apology. It's just mouth noises.

The same with accountability. The point of accountability is not simply vengeance, though that is not a small part of it. It's to insure that whatever happened in the past will not happen again. The point is to show those who will follow what will happen if this is done again.

Accordingly, what constitutes the this is of utmost importance. There needs to be accountability for the response to COVID! Okay. Accountability for what? What, specifically, was done wrong and why. Because without agreement on that, this will keep happening. It simply will.

We can't even get people to agree as to what occurred, let alone how it was wrong. Look at the arguments that the United States was never in lock down. I've linked people to the original documents from my state issuing stay at home orders and been told that's not a lock down.

There isn't even agreement that young children being taught, and I use that term advisedly, remotely and then being brought back to school in masks has had any kind of negative impact on their development. If there can be no agreement on that, on what can there be agreement?

No one ever said that the vaccines would prevent transmission! Here are all the statements saying the vaccine would prevent transmission. No, you misunderstood, you over interpreted, you don't know how vaccines work, that was never done, that was never said. It never happened.

This is already too long to go through the rest of the matters for which I and many others want accountability. This absolute and utter refusal by those in positions of authority to admit that maybe, just maybe, they did something less than perfect is leading us to dark places.

I don't want accountability solely because I'm a vengeful sort, though I am a vengeful sort. I want accountability because I do not want those negative consequences to occur again and thus looking at why those negative consequence occurred is absolutely vital. It's the baseline.

The dark places include people no longer trusting, justifiably, those in whom they previously trusted. I no longer trust that my personal medical providers will give me accurate advice. How can they? The information they are given is unreliable. See re: replicability crisis.

Pick a topic and it is clear that trust has been destroyed. The first step, the baby step, is for those who broke that trust to admit for what they were wrong, how they were wrong, and then to step aside. That is never going to happen. Never. May God have mercy on us all. /fin